Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-503-0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

A New York lawyer for dozens of child sexual abuse victims is appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit. The suit claims that a Jewish school covered up decades of child sexual abuse and was thrown out due to statute of limitations.

According to the appeal, Yeshiva University High School for Boys was complicit in the abuse of dozens of boys and that complicity only came to light in 2012, within the statute of limitations time frame.

We are glad this lawyer is working to hold those complicit in child sex crimes responsible and we hope he is successful. Children are safer and victims can better heal when those who commit and those who conceal child sex crimes are held accountable. We hope anyone else who saw, suspects, or suffered child sex crimes will find the courage to speak up, call police and start healing.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)